<P><BR>Airports in the north-eastern corner of Australia were badly affected yesterday morning when one of the country's worst tropical cyclones hit.<BR><BR>Around&nbsp;07:30 yesterday the Cyclone Larry reached land. The cyclone&nbsp;reached the maximum "category five" severity level, making it the most powerful&nbsp;recorded in Australia&nbsp;for over a century.&nbsp;Winds of up to 295km/h (160kt) were recorded as the cyclone ripped through the coastal town of Innisfail, around 100km (62 miles) south of Cairns&nbsp;and surrounding communities in Northern Queensland. <BR><BR>The storm smashed through thousands of homes and businesses, uprooted trees and ravaged banana and sugar crops, leaving&nbsp;a trail of destruction along 300km of coastline. Early estimates suggest the damage bill could be as high as A$1 billion ($425 million).&nbsp;<BR><BR>A hangar was wrecked and an aircraft overturned in Cairns International airport (pictured below). Cairns and Townsville airports were closed fohttp://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/Cyclone-Larry-winds-of-300kmh-disrupt-Queensland-airports-205588/